Contraction (operator theory)

In operator theory, a bounded operator T: X → Y between normed vector spaces X and Y is said to be a contraction if its operator norm ||T || ≤ 1. This notion is a special case of the concept of a contraction mapping, but every bounded operator becomes a contraction after suitable scaling. The analysis of contractions provides insight into the structure of operators, or a family of operators. The theory of contractions on Hilbert space is largely due to Béla Szőkefalvi-Nagy and Ciprian Foias.